As healthcare providers, we are always trying to provide the best options for our patients. For this reason, many practitioners are moving their patients into daily disposable options. While this month’s issue has spoken to the benefits of these lenses, our patients may have concerns regarding the environmental impact of this modality. This is a conversation that comes up quite often in our office, and I wanted to share a few ways to responsibly have that discussion.

I find it effective when I take any of three different perspectives: 1) the overall impact of daily disposables lenses to the environment; 2) environmental sustainability measures being taken by manufacturers; and 3) what patients can do to help.

Overall Impact of Daily Disposables

When you break it down, patients are often surprised to learn that two-week or monthly replacement contact lenses actually use more plastic compared to daily disposables. This has more to do with the fact that those modalities require the use of lens care solution, whereas daily disposable lenses do not. Consider that the plastic required to create one bottle for either multipurpose or hydrogen peroxide solution is the equivalent of more than a two-and-a-half-year supply of lenses. In addition, one multipurpose solution lens case is equal to a four-year supply, and the plastic in one hydrogen peroxide lens case is equal to more than eight years’ worth of lenses (Routhier et al, October 2012). When you sum it all up, the cartons and foil blister packs of an annual supply of daily disposables produce only 1kg of waste (Routhier et al, December 2012).

Changes from the Manufacturers

Manufacturers have come a long way in using safer materials and in implementing methods to minimize waste. When we look at the largest contact lens companies, they are taking these efforts very seriously. Some have made significant advancements in saving water and conserving energy during the manufacturing process. Some have made strides in reducing their environmental footprint by altering not only the lens creation process but also the lens packaging materials.

What Patients Can Do

When asked, patients often admit to discarding their lenses in the sink or toilet. They throw the packaging in the nearest trash receptacle. The truth is that every part of the contact lens and packaging can, and should, be recycled. We should be reminding our patients of this. TerraCycle has partnered with manufacturers both in the United States and in other countries to create a free recycling program for contact lenses and packaging. This program allows practitioners to display a recycling station in their office encouraging patients to recycle lenses as well as blister packs. Once received, the collected materials are separated by composition and are cleaned. The metal layers of the blister packs are recycled separately, while the contact lenses and plastic blister pack components are melted into plastic that can be remolded to make recycled products.

Help Patients Help Our Planet

It is encouraging to know that our patients can live a “green lifestyle” while receiving the benefits of daily disposable lenses. As always, it is up to us to educate our patients on the sustainability advancements in our industry. This is just one instance of how we are simultaneously helping the planet. CLS

For references, please visit www.clspectrum.com/references and click on document #306.